PLYMOUTH — There’s no doubt about it, K-9 Officer Nick left behind four impressive paw prints that won’t be easy to fill.

But thanks to a generous donation from Dom Conicelli Sr. and Conicelli Toyota, the partner of fallen Plymouth Township Police Officer Brad Fox will have a successor.

Nick retired last November and headed to Gilbertsville to live with Fox’s widow, Lynsay, and her children.

At the Plymouth Township Council meeting Monday, the Conicelli family presented a check for $20,000 to Police Chief Joseph Lawrence.

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The check will go a long way toward the purchase and training of a rookie K-9, Lawrence said.

“It will cost approximately $9,000 for the dog himself, and then when you throw in six months’ worth of training, equipment and material that’s needed, you’re talking about a cost to the department that’s closer to $50,000,” Lawrence said. “When you talk about manhours and pay, it’s a great expense to get a dog.”

Currently, there are two narcotics-sniffing dogs in the department and, with Nick’s retirement, one explosives-sniffing K-9.

The new dog will be a Belgian Malinois, like Nick, and follow in his footsteps as an explosives expert and patrol dog.

“Brad’s widow also wants to assist us in getting the dog, and the county will also help,” Lawrence said. “So we have a lot of people helping us. Now we can take it to the next step. We’ll pick out dogs that are people-friendly that kids can walk up and pet, which most police departments do.”

The department will work with a K-9 training school in Philadelphia, Lawrence said.

“It will depend on where they think the best dogs are.”

With Plymouth Officer John Monaghan, one half of the K-9 partnership, ready to go, the department hopes to have a dog selected and in training sometime this spring.

It can take up to six months for training to be completed, Lawrence said.

“It’s a big commitment and it’s a lot of work.”

As for Nick, he’s having a grand old time in his young retirement.

“We have a couple of officers that live near Mrs. Fox, and they keep us informed and we touch base with her all the time,” Lawrence said.